SEASONAL SECRETS
April 10 thru May 10
Is the time of year to apply crabgrass preventer to avoid a crabgrass problem during the summer. If you are not reseeding, you can apply any number of crabgrass controls: Team, Dimension or Barricade. They will do a good job on the crabgrass; however, they will also kill any seed you plant. (Reseeding can not be done for anywhere from 90 to 120 days) If you plan to reseed or if you dormant seeded during the winter, then you need to apply Mesotrione as your crabgrass control. Mesotrione is the only crabgrass control that will kill the germinating crabgrass seed without affecting the germination of the good grass seed.
April is also the time to apply grub control to the lawn: This is the time of year to apply grub control. If you had a significant grub problem in the fall this is the second window of opportunity to kill any over wintering grubs that may be in your lawn.
To know if you have grubs: Take an area of lawn about the size of a shoe box and turn the sod over. If you see little white U shape insects that look like a shrimp cocktail, you have grubs in your lawn. The reason grubs are so bad for a lawn is because they eat the roots of your grass. If the grubs eat enough of the roots of the grass plants, the grass plants die. If you see three or more grubs in the sample sod you need to treat with a grub control product.
Sevin and Dylox are the two grub controls you can apply to the lawn. Sevin is a broad spectrum insect control that will kill a wide range of insects. Dylox will only kill grubs and sod webworms. Sevin will be a good grub killer if the problem is not severe. Dylox is the treatment of choice if the grub problem is severe. Both products need to be applied before a rain. Both products need moisture in order to work.
May thru June
This is the time of year to apply fertilizer, weed killer and weed and feed to the lawn. If you apply fertilizer in April you will be pushing new growth too early. Waiting until May allows the lawn to come out of dormancy and to start to grow on its own. With all the spring rains the grass will grow well enough on its own without fertilizer being applied to the lawn. By May the grass will need and be ready to use fertilizer.
Waiting until May is also wise because the weather in April most years is usually too cold to apply any weed killer to the lawn. In order for weed killers to be effective, a weed killer should not be applied until the air temperatures are 60 degrees F or warmer, the weeds are actively growing, and there is moisture present allowing the weed killer to be absorbed by the weeds.
If you do not have a major weed problem you can apply our 24-0-5 fertilizer to the lawn. This fertilizer will give you a good green color while also feeding the rest of the grass plant. Apply granular fertilizer when the grass is dry. If the grass is wet at the time of application you run the risk of tip burn.
If weeds are a major problem you can apply a dry weed killer, a granular weed and feed, or a liquid weed killer. If you are dealing with easy to kill weeds you can either apply a granular weed control, or a weed and feed. Either product will take care of most major weeds you may have in your lawn. If you have difficult weeds to kill such as clover, chickweed, ground ivy, henbit - any other small leafed weed - you may be wiser to apply a liquid weed killer such as Trimec or Speedzone. Liquid weed killers are more effective on hard to kill weeds than your granular material.
When you are dealing with small leafed weeds, it is difficult to keep the granular weed killer on the leaf of the weed. The granular material can be knocked off the leaf of the weed too easily. Applying a liquid weed killer with a spreader sticker will allow the weed killer to be absorbed by the weed. The weed killer will kill the weed at its roots. The spreader sticker will glue the weed killer to the weed so rainfall will not wash the weed killer away.
Do not expect an over night kill with either liquid or dry weed control. It takes several days for the weed killer to be absorbed by the weed plant and taken down to the root system of the plant. It is at the root system where the weed killer kills the weed. Do not expect good weed control if we have dry weather conditions. Weed killers need adequate soil moisture for the weed killer to kill the weeds. If the moisture is not present the weed killer will only be absorbed by the leaves of the grass plant. The roots of the weeds will never receive the weed killer.
Memorial Day to 4th of July
This is a good time of year for applying a grub preventative. The product we sell is called Merit. It is an insecticide which will be absorbed by the grass plant down to its roots. For optimal prevention, Merit should be placed on the root of the grass plant. A grub will die if it eats any part of a root treated with Merit.
Merit is a preventative and can not be used as a rescue treatment since it takes a month for Merit to be absorbed by the grass plant; far too long for an effective rescue treatment. However, once Merit is absorbed by the plant, it will last in the root until November.
Summer (July - Mid August)
During the heat of the summer, your lawn will continue to grow, but at a slower rate than during the previous months. Your grass will therefore need less food. We suggest applying fertilizer at a half-rate application. Use just enough fertilizer to maintain the color of the grass without pushing the grass to grow.
Never apply either fertilizer or weed control in drought conditions, or situations with high heat (above 85 degrees F) or high humidity.
YOU WILL BURN YOUR GRASS. You can avoid this problem during hot or dry weather conditions by simply waiting until fall to apply any lawn fertilizer or weed control.
August thru October
This time period offers a second opportunity to apply grub control if you did not treat your lawn in spring or early summer. The Japanese beetle larvae - or grubs - normally start to hatch by early August, and will feed on the roots of your grass until cold weather forces them to go below the frost line and lie dormant over the winter.
If you notice grub damage and did not apply Merit in June, you should apply either Sevin or Dylox in the late summer or early fall. Additionally, an autumn application of grub control will greatly reduce the grub population since the larvae are small and more easily killed than in early spring. Also remember that grub control products need moisture in order for the insecticide to work.
Labor Day thru Fall
When Fall arrives the weather becomes cooler and we usually have plenty of moisture. The grass plants will start to green again with the cooler weather. This is when you do your fall work on the lawn. To help revive the lawn you can apply our 24-0-5 lawn fertilizer in the early fall. This fertilizer will revive the lawn without excessive growth to the grass plant. This fertilizer will work well either on lawns that are thin that need a push or an establish lawn that needs fertilizer after the stress of a long, hot summer.
If weeds are a problem you can apply in September Trimec, Speedzone or our weed and feed to the lawn. Perennial weeds are easier to kill in the fall. In the fall the energy of the weeds are placed in the roots of the weeds rather than the leaf of the weeds (The food for the winter is being sent to the roots). If you apply any weed killer to the lawn the weed plant will send the weed killer directly to the roots of the weed. The weed killer is much more effective when the weed plants are getting ready for winter.
In late fall (October 15 or later) you can put the lawn to bed with our 8-18-12 fertilizer. The grass plants, like the weed plants, are getting ready for winter. New root growth and cell growth are taking place in the fall. A fall fertilizer that will feed the roots and the cells of the grass plant is more needed. 8-18-12 is an ideal late fall fertilizer for the development of the rest of the grass plant, not simply the leaf of the grass plant.
Mid- Late Winter
This is the time of year to over seed thin areas of your lawn or to introduce newer grass varieties to your lawn. With the freezing and thawing of the soil the seed will works its way into the soil. Since seed is never affected by cold soils or by moisture, the seed will lie dormant until the weather warms and we receive moisture. The seed will then germinate in the spring and start to grow.